Tree Notes is about trees -- especially native trees, trees for wildlife, and trees in history.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

The benefits of forests, as seen in 1923

Why forests are important

The following passage is quoted from a 1923 textbook, The New Agriculture For High Schools. The author, Dr. Kary C. Davis, advises students that some woodlands should be preserved on farms. Here are the reasons he gives:

Forests benefit regions in a number of ways:

1, They greatly modify and improve climate.

2. They greatly equalize temperature.

3. They break the force of the wind.

4. They check evaporation.

5. They prevent floods or make them less serious. The forest itself and its floor of leaves and trash absorbing the rainfall, retard the rush of water to streams.

6. Water power for mills and factories along streams is more uniform because of a steady supply of water coming from a stream through a well-protected forest watershed.

7. Wells and springs are more continuous in their flow because more water enters the soil and gradually seeks the underground currents.

Source: From the chapter titled "Woodland Projects" (p.322) in The New Agriculture for High Schools by Kary C. Davis, Ph.D. Published in 1923 by J.P. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.

It has been 85 years since the above points were listed.

We probably don't use as much water power today to run mills and factories (see #6 above,) but we depend on our rivers to produce electricity and to provide water for cities, agriculture, and recreation.

If we were rewriting this list today, we might also add that forests help reduce air pollution and serve as carbon sinks.

Enrich your life with the study of trees.

"The power to recognize trees at a glance without examining their leaves or flowers or fruit as they are seen, for example, from the car-window during a railroad journey, can only be acquired by studying them as they grow under all possible conditions over wide areas of territory. Such an attainment may not have much practical value, but once acquired it gives to the possessor a good deal of pleasure which is denied to less fortunate travelers."

I am Genevieve Netz, and I live in Christian County, Kentucky. My e-mail address is gnetz51@gmail.com.

I have studied native trees for many years. However, I am a hobbyist, not a trained arborist or forester. I don't give advice about tree diseases, parasites, etc. I don't provide tree identifications, and I don't recommend trees to plant. Please understand that I ignore emails with these sorts of questions.